In cellular networks, e.g., as specified by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), it is known to use broadcast or multicast transmission modes for efficiently providing one or more services, e.g., multimedia services such as mobile TV, to a plurality of users. Such multicast or broadcast transmission modes may allow simultaneous reception of the data by a large number of users while avoiding excessive usage of radio resources, because multiple users may receive the data from the same radio resources. Examples of such broadcast or multicast transmission modes are MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service) as specified in 3GPP TS 23.246 V13.0.0 (2015-03) for the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) radio technology and the LTE (Long Term Evolution) radio technology. In the context of LTE, MBMS is also referred to as eMBMS (evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service), and details concerning eMBMS are for example specified in 3GPP TS 36.440 V12.0.0 (2014-09).
In MBMS and eMBMS, multicast data are transmitted synchronously by multiple base stations on a single frequency. This kind of transmission is also referred to as single frequency network transmission, specifically as MBSFN (MBMS Single Frequency Network) transmission. As compared to unicast transmissions of the same date to multiple users, such MBSFN transmissions allow for a more efficient utilization of the available radio resources. However, also the availability of frequencies for MBSFN transmissions is limited. Further, MBMS transmissions are subject to certain constraints. For example, all transmitters participating in a MBSFN transmission need to use the same modulation and coding scheme (MCS). At the same time, relevant parameters such as Inter Site Distance (ISD), i.e., the distance between different participating base stations, propagation characteristics, transmit power constraints, and external interference, are typically subject to geographical variations and/or variations depending on the utilized frequency.
Accordingly, there is a need for techniques which allow for efficiently selecting frequencies utilized for MBSFN transmissions or other kinds of single frequency network transmissions.